Left 4 Coraline
by LovelyLadyPain-SpaceCowGirl559
Summary: Crossover fic between Left 4 Dead and Coraline. Co-authored by SpaceCowGirl559 and LoveEmos892. This involves slight Nellis and is based more off the movie than the book. If you want to know more, read the dang thing! T for language and later antics.
1. Chapter 1

_**Read at your own risk everyone :3 this is a Left 4 Dead Coraline cross-over fic. Lots of thanks to the co-author for helping with the grammatical errors as well as Spell Check and for coming up with the idea in the first place! Be sure to read the ending statements for information on things.**_

Nick hated it. He hated the faded pink color of the house. He hated the old rickety stairs, the two women that lived downstairs, the crazy black guy that lived upstairs, but most of all he hated the annoying southern accented kid that lived just behind the ugly pink building, in the woods. The kid's grandfather owned the apartment building Nick and his step father were moving into.

Nick's step-father was an old biker in his mid 30's. They had decided to move from their home in New York to this backwater state, which never heard of sunshine, because of the gang brawl that killed his mother. His step-father thought it was too dangerous to live there since.

"Nick! Get over here and help me move these boxes!" The old man yelled. Nick groaned in annoyance and went to help.

"Francis, why the hell did we have to move to Oregon in the first place?" Nick complained.

"Language," Francis scolded, "And New York got too dangerous. You're a sixteen year old boy, and you don't need to be growing up around all that gang shit. It teaches you bad things…" Francis remembered all the trouble he'd gotten into when he was younger because of his biker gang.

"Bullshit…" Nick muttered under his breath. He carried the last of the boxes inside the apartment and walked into Francis' study. He was typing away at the computer he'd finally managed to set up.

"Francis. I'm bored out of my fucking mind."

"Watch that mouth Nicholas," Francis warned, "And if you're bored, go find something to do then."

"What is there to do around here?"

"I don't know. You're a creative boy, I'm sure you can find something to do here."

Nick just stood in the doorway and stared at the wall of text that was slowly getting larger. He pushed the door open with his foot and a shrill squeak cracked the silence between the two men. Francis shuddered at the noise and Nick just grinned. He pulled the door closed agonizingly slow and watched the older man twitch. He continued to move the door and watched Francis twitch with anger.

"Nick," He finally snapped, "Go explore or something."

"But it's raining."

"Then…explore the house or something," Francis thrusts a pad of paper and a pencil into Nick's hands, "Count all the windows, list all the things that are blue, go do something, and for the love of God, let me work!"

Francis turned back to his computer and kept typing. Nick just grumbled and walked around his house. The rain had let up a lot and he looked out the window. A large bush that still had all its leaves sat in front of the gate to the apartments.

Nick opened the front door and stepped out onto the front porch. Rain dripped from the siding on the house and pooled on the ground in puddles. Perfect. Lots of mud to be tracked now, lots of white he can ruin with his wardrobe, and lots of shit he can stir up for his step dad.

Dressed in his white dress pants, a blue polo, and his blue rain boots, Nick slid into his white rain-jacket and haphazardly walked down the slippery half broken stairs. He walked to the bush out front and stared at it. Its leaves were orange, but they were still there. He reached into the bush and broke a stick off of it that looked like a three pointed star. He took two ends of it and held it in the air.

"Oh stupid magic stick," He said, "Take me to a well that I can throw myself down."

Nick stood there for a few minutes looking like an idiot. When nothing but a short gust of wind occurred he dropped the stick to his side and looked up. The sky was covered in dark grey clouds, the rain had started up again but it was only a light drizzle now. He huffed and walked away from the orange bush. A cobble stone trail led from his apartment building to the back garden. Nick walked to the back of the apartment building and stopped in front of the garden. He imagined it to once have been beautiful, instead all that grew there were grey weeds and dead flowers. The garden had an arch that sat in front of a bridge over the center of the garden. The arch was covered in dead grey vines that twisted and turned in gnarled, impossible ways. He walked through it, hoping to find something more interesting in the garden. His entire search yielded a bare path into the forest behind the apartments. Nick looked back to the faded building behind him. He stuck up his middle finger and turned back toward the path.

"I hate this place…" He grumbled.

Nick ran down the path, not caring where he'd end up. He just wanted to get away from the building and Francis. The trees thinned as he ran down the path and soon they stopped growing. He was on a mountain side now, a patch of rocks sat on a small hill above him. Nick took in his surroundings. The view from where he was standing was nothing but trees. He could barely make out part of the road Francis had taken to get to their new apartment. A few rocks fell from the hill above him and landed near his feet. Nick jumped at the occurrence and quickly looked up.

"Who's there?" He shouted to the rocks. Silence was his answer.

"Show yourself goddammit!" He yelled, throwing one of the rocks that fell. It bounced off the top of one of the rocks and behind the stack. A cat hissed and he jumped. Not wanting to stick around, Nick ran further down the path, clutching the stick under his arm.

Nick once again found himself surrounded by trees, dead ones at that. The branches were black and gnarled and they didn't look right. A few stuck out into the trail, looking like boney hands trying to grab at him. He heard a stick snap behind him and quickly turned around. Nothing moved, no trees seemed broken, and no wind blew. _Eerie…_Nick thought.

He continued his trek down the cleared trail and came to a large clearing. An overgrown tree stump sat in the center of it, beside it was a ring of mushrooms. Nick walked to the stump and stared at it, unintentionally sanding inside the mushroom circle. He kicked the stump lightly, expecting something to happen, when nothing did he stomped his foot back into its previous position. He heard something move behind him and turned again. A red bike sat at the top of a nearby cliff. A person with a blue and white hat and a welding mask sat on its seat. The mask had some kind of weird symbol painted on it, it looked like a smiling face, but the way the pain on it dripped it looked more menacing than smiling. The person revved the bike's engine and kicked off the cliff. The biker jerkily made its way down the cliff side. When the bike hit the same level as Nick it sped in his direction. Out of fear and instinct he threw himself to the side as it turned away from him. When he picked himself up and turned around the biker was sitting on his bike atop the stump. The engine on his bike was turned off and the painted face glared happily at Nick.

Nick wasn't going to take any of this mask wearing douche's shit. He stood straight up and jumped back into the ring of mushrooms.

"What the hell was that about, you ass!" He yelled. The welding mask was lifted up off the person's face. A young boy with curly light brown hair sat in the mask's place. He looked much less scary now.

"Uh, sorry 'bout that. Mah bad," He said. The boy had a very strong southern accent. He got off his bike and propped up its kick stand on the stump.

"I'm Ellis, by the way," The boy offered as he slid off the stump. Ellis extended his hand to Nick, who in turn just stared at the gloved appendage.

"What the hell was that Ellis?" Nick yelled again, he stomped his foot against the ground. Ellis jumped back and tripped on the stump, falling into his bike and crashing it into the ground.

"Don't do that! You'll fall in!" Ellis shouted. He ran up to Nick and grabbed the collar of his polo, pulling him out of the mushroom ring.

"Fall in what? Let go of me!" Nick slapped Ellis' hands of his collar.

"The well, are you stupid or somethin'?"

Nick stayed silent; a mixed look of shock and surprise crossed his face.

"There's a well here?" He asked dumbfounded.

"No shit, Sherlock." Ellis bent down to the ring of mushrooms and wiped away some of the mud that the well's cover was caked with. He knocked on the wood that was under it and a loud echo rang from the ground.

"Mah grampa told me that the well here is so deep that if ya fall in ya ain't never comin' back out."

"Seriously?" Nick looked at the wooden well cover. It reminded him of the manhole covers on the streets back in New York.

"Hey, what's this funny stick ya got there?" Ellis snatched the stick from Nick's hands and looked it over.

"It's called a dousing rod you idiot!" Nick yelled, snatching the stick back from him. An old man was heard yelling in the distance. Ellis stiffened a bit.

"I think someone's calling you El," Nick stated.

"I didn't hear anythin'," Ellis abruptly said, almost cutting Nick off.

"Ellis!" The old man called again. Ellis twitched a bit.

"I think you need to go, Ellis."

"Uh…Yeah. I guess you're right." Ellis picked up his bike and mounted it.

"One last thing though. You might wanna wear gloves next time."

"Oh? And why's that?" Nick crossed his arms.

"Because, that dousing rod of yours…it's Poison Oak."

Nick flailed a bit and threw the stick across the clearing. Ellis snickered a bit and rode off, leaving Nick to stare at his rash covered hand.

_**Okay, this was put together out of sheer boredom from two teenage girls on the internet. Basically, we were listening to "Other Father Song," from the movie Coraline, last night when we got the sudden urge to watch Coraline. We immediately ran upstairs and watched it. Then the idea hit us; write about a Left 4 Dead Coraline cross-over. The beauteous first chapter here was the results. We hope all of you readers like the idea behind this as well as the portrayal of some characters.**_

_**Please review and let us know if there's something we can improve on, or if you just want to let us know what you think of it. It would greatly help out our esteem for this fic! Thank you!**_

_**SpaceCowGirl559 & PlatoBear7**_

_**P.S. SpaceCowGirl559 doesn't have a DeviantArt account or a FanFiction . net account.**_


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Nick entered his apartment the slight drizzle of rain had turned to a full-on downpour. He was soaking wet from the knee down, but still partially dry, save the collar of his shirt, thanks to his rain coat. The entire left side of his body was covered in mud, staining his white clothes forever. He was proud of the damage he'd done to the clothes his step dad had bought him.

Nick entered the kitchen to find a plate wrapped in plastic wrap on the table as well as a note. He picked up the note and looked at Francis' unreadable, chicken scratch, excuse of handwriting.

Nick,

I went out to town to get a few things. I'll be back soon, don't wait up. The microwave should be working now so heat up the dinner I left for you before you eat it.

~Francis

_Great, _Nick thought, _Now I'm stuck here ALONE! _He walked out of the kitchen, kicking off his rain boots as he stormed into the near empty family room. The room was round and a bit small, all that was in it was a white couch and a long, nearly flat, box that leaned against the wall by the fireplace. One of his Mother's old snow globes sat on the large white mantle over the fire place. He picked it up and shook it a bit. The snow swirled about the glass orb, around the small plastic version of New York that lay glued in the center of it. A small, silent, tear crawled down Nick's cheek as he remembered buying this for his Mother's birthday a few years ago.

Nick put the snow globe back in its spot on the fireplace with a little more force than necessary. He glared at the large box on the wall through the corner of his eye. Feeling sad and pissed off now he kicked the box into another wall and watched it fall to the ground with a thud. Something caught his eye. Nick looked back to the wall. Sitting very close to the ground, behind the wallpaper, was a small door. It looked just big enough that he could fit through it. He knelt beside it and ran his hand over the indent it made in the wall. His fingers brushed over something round near the center of the door. When he looked at it, it seemed as if a button had gotten stuck between the door and the wallpaper.

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out the pocket knife Francis had given him for his tenth birthday. He flipped the blade open and stabbed the crease where the door started. He traced the outline of the door with the blade until it came loose a bit. Nick put the knife away and tried opening the small door. It was locked.

"Dammit," Nick muttered. An idea popped into his head. Francis had mentioned a drawer full of keys somewhere in the kitchen.

Nick stood up and half jogged, half walked to the kitchen. He threw open a few drawers until he found the one with keys scattered across the bottom of it. He dug around the keys until one of them caught his eye. A long black key with a button on the head of it sat underneath the others. Nick cautiously pulled it out from the drawer. He looked it over, turning it in his fingers. The button on the key resembled the one that was stuck in the wallpaper. The key looked like an old fashioned one with a circular body and only two teeth, unlike the rest of the keys that had flat bodies and around six or ten teeth.

Nick shut the drawer and ran back to the small door. He felt around for the lock and found a small keyhole on the side of it. He crammed the black key into the wallpaper covering the keyhole and tried turning it. The key turned with little resistance and soon a soft click came from the door. Nick was surprised that they key had actually worked. The door opened a crack and he slid his fingers behind it. He pulled on the door and it swung open. He was eager to see what was behind it. As the door banged against the wall again Nick's hope sank. Behind the door was a wall of bricks, the cement keeping the bricks in place was plastered on the faces of the bricks as well, as if someone were trying to get the cement on as fast as they could.

Nick glared at the dark red blocks that stared at him. He slammed the small door shut again and stood up.

"What was I expecting?" He muttered, "A magic world where all my dreams and wishes come true?"

Nick dragged himself to the staircase and up to his room. A large bed with sheets covered in card suit patterns sat in the middle of his room, a small white bear sat at the head of it. His room was completely bare, save a photograph or two of some of his old friends and a box with some of his clothes in it. A blue sleeping bag lay on top of his bed. Nick shuffled his way over to the box and kicked it open. He pulled a pair of grey sweat pants out and slid out of his raincoat. He stripped off his clothes and slid into the sweat pants.

Nick pulled back the cover on the blue sleeping bag on his bed and slid inside it. He lay on his side and stared at the white bear. It was a present from his best friend, Nicole. Nicole was like his sister, she was his first best friend. They had grown up together and even gone to their junior prom together as fake dates. He missed her. Nick reached out and stroked the fur on the bear's face. A red bandanna was tied around its neck. He hugged the bear close to him and closed his eyes. He missed his friends. He missed New York. He missed his Mom. Nick crushed the bear in his arms and, for the first time in twelve years, slowly cried himself to sleep.

**X**

The door Nick had found earlier slowly opened with a low creak. A small light glowed from a hole in the brick inlay behind the door. Something small and furry slithered through the hole and plopped into the floor with a soft thump. The small bundle of furry skin unrolled itself and flattened out. It looked like a flattened mouse skin. The skin slowly twitched into a small plump mouse. The mouse sniffed the air and scampered to the brick wall. It tapped the wall with its tail and more mice slithered out of the hole. They all scampered off in different directions through the house. One of the mice pranced to the staircase and slowly made its way up to the second floor.

**X**

She was an hour late; she was supposed to pick him up today. Where was she? He was tired of waiting; she wasn't coming to get him. He pulled his suit jacket tighter around his shoulders and started for home. He heard gunfire in the distance, it was loud and most likely just down the road, but he didn't care, he just kept walking.

"Nicki!" He heard someone call him. His response was to just keep walking, but someone jumped on his back and forced him to stop.

"Whoa! What the hell is on me?" He freaked.

"Oh come one Nicki, you know who I am." The person climbed off his back and walked beside him. It was Nicole, he'd recognize her chocolate colored ponytail, jean capris, and white blouse combo anywhere. She wore almost the same thing every day. She was wearing her blue rain boots; she'd gotten him a matching pair for his birthday last month.

"What're you doing here Nicole?" He asked with slight annoyance.

"I'm not going to lie; I was spying on you and that girl you were going out with. I saw her making out with another girl and I wanted to be here when she broke it off."

"Wow, psychic too. You never cease to amaze me Nicole," He said sarcastically. More gunfire sounded from nearby and Nicole inched closer to him. A woman screamed from the alley and he felt his blood run cold.

"That sounded like," he didn't finish his sentence before he was running. He was running as fast as he could toward the screaming and gunfire.

"Nick! No, don't go over there!" Nicole screamed after him.

Three people ran past him, two carrying guns and one holding a gold and white purse. He recognized that purse. He skidded to a halt in mere seconds and stared, terrified, at the sight in front of him.

He took it all in; the white of clothes, the dark black of the asphalt, the dark brown of hair, and the red that covered everything.

"Nick…" A small sound came from the scene in front of him. He immediately fell to his knees and scanned her over. It was his mother, the only family he'd had left; and she was dying. She was dying right here, in the middle of a dirty New York City road. He grabbed her hand and shakily clutched it.

"Nick…Are you…Okay ?" She croaked. Her beautiful white skin was now splattered with blood in all areas. Dark red blossomed from a small hole in her jacket. She'd been shot, her purse had been stolen, so had her life. He could see that her pale green eyes were fading fast. He let go of her hand and pressed his shaking ones against the hole in her chest. He could feel the soft thud of her heart against the palms of his hands and he tried to stop the bleeding. It wasn't doing any good. Tears streamed down his face faster than he could comprehend. He dropped his head and begged for her to hold on, promising that he'd get help, that he wouldn't let her die. A cold hand was placed over his and he looked up. She was smiling at him; blood trickled out of the side of her mouth.

"Stop…Please…It won't do any good," She wheezed.

"Mom, no! Please no!" He cried.

"It's okay. Don't…Worry yourself…I love you…" Her eyes lost all life, her heartbeat had stopped thudding against his hands. She was no longer warm. He removed his hands from her body with disbelief. She couldn't be gone. She couldn't be dead. She couldn't just leave him here. He buried his face in his hands but immediately retracted when he felt something touch his face. He stared at his hands, stained red with her blood. He screamed and tried to rub it off; it just spread. Her blood wouldn't come off.

He shot up in his bed and clutched the side of his head. His entire upper body was soaked with cold sweat and his eyes were burning. His pillow was soaked and he couldn't stop shaking. The nightmare again, he saw her die again.

Nick threw the sleeping bag off and picked up the white bear. The bear's face was wet, probably from his tears or sweat. A slight squeaking sounded from the hallway. He looked up and saw that his door was open. _Strange…_he thought, _I could've sworn I closed that._ He stood from his bed and dropped the bear back on it. Nick opened the door and glanced down the hallway. A small mouse with a long tail was jumping about through the hall. It turned around and saw Nick and ran to the stairs. It stayed at the top step and looked back to Nick, as if it were telling him to follow it. Nick complied and walked to the stairs as the mouse began its descent.

The mouse led him to the near-empty family room and looked back again. Nick was standing in the doorway, not sure if he wanted to catch the mouse or follow it. The mouse ran to the small door in the wall and squeezed through the space between it and the brick wall.

"Stupid mouse," Nick muttered, "There's nothing back there."

He walked to the door and pulled it open; a large gust of wind blew into him. The brick wall behind the door was no longer there; in its place was a long corridor. The mouse scampered down the corridor, looking back every now and then. It was trying to lead him somewhere that much was obvious.

"I'm going to regret this, I just know it," Nick said to himself. He crawled through the small corridor; it was barely big enough for him to squeeze through. The corridor was lit with very little light and he couldn't see anything but the small black silhouette of the mouse. He stopped when his head hit something. Reaching out in front of him, Nick felt his hands run over something; it moved and dipped into the wall. Nick felt the wall and found a button shaped object jutting out of the center of it and a doorknob to the side of it. It was a door, one about the same size as the one he'd come in.

Nick slowly turned the knob and the door creaked open. He crawled through the doorway and into a dark room. It was round and had very minimal furniture. A large white fireplace sat in a wall next to the doorway he crawled through.

"What the…?" Nick recognized the room. It was his family room, "Didn't I just…" Nick trailed off when he noticed something. A light was coming from somewhere and an amazing smell flooded the house. He stood up and brushed himself off.

Nick left the family room and walked into the hallway. The light was coming from the kitchen; the smell got stronger the closer he got to the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen he saw a woman standing in front of the stove. She was wearing a white skirt, a light blue blouse, and light blue heels. Dark brown hair cascaded down her back in a ponytail.

"Nick is that you?" She asked without turning around.

"Who…Who are you?" Nick stated more than asked.

"Why, Nicki, you don't recognize me?" The woman said in a giggly voice. She turned around, holding a large frying pan with some sort of food in it. Nick's eyes widened at the sight of the woman. She was an exact copy of his mom, the only exception being her eyes. Her eyes were gone, replaced with buttons that were the same color as her pale green eyes.

"I'm your mother," She said with a smile. Nick could only stare at the woman standing before him. She looked everything like his mother, save the button eyes.

"You aren't my mother," He said in a harsh tone, "My mother is dead, and she doesn't have bu-bu-bu-," He tried to say the word but his voice kept getting stuck in his throat.

"Bu-bu-buttons?" She said in a mocking manner, "Do you like them?" She tapped the side of one with her finger nail.

"I'm your Other Mother silly, now go tell your Other Step-Father that supper's ready. He should be in the Study," She turned back to her cooking.

Nick couldn't believe his eyes. _I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming. _He tried to convince himself. His throat felt tight and an annoying lump formed in his esophagus. He quickly swallowed it and all the tears that threatened to fall from seeing his mother alive again and turned to the door. He quickly made his way to the hallway again, trying to remember which door Francis had claimed as his Study. Soft piano music drifted down the hall from a door that was cracked open a bit.

Nick peered through the space between the door and its frame and saw a man in a dark red robe sitting at a piano. He was plucking away at the keys of the large ebony piano.

"Uh, hey," Nick started, opening the door a bit more, "The woman in the kitchen told me to come get you."

The man lifted his head from the piano keys and turned around.

"Oh, you mean your Mother, supper must be ready then," He said. The man looked like an exact copy of Francis, only he had black buttons in place of eyes.

"Francis?" Nick asked.

"Yes and no. I'm the Other Francis. Hey, want to hear a song I wrote?"

"Song…? But you suck at playing the piano."

"I know, but I don't have to play it, this piano plays you. Want to see?" Other Francis turned back to the piano and was about to push a key when the woman called again.

"Boys, come on out here! Supper's getting cold!"

Francis snapped his fingers in defeat and pushed away from the piano.

"Maybe some other time," He said as he walked past Nick.

Nick stared after the Francis copy as it walked down the hallway.

"What the hell is this place?"

Nick and Other Francis walked back into the kitchen and into the dining room. A warm burst of air brushed past Nick's face. It carried the fantastic smell of a thanksgiving dinner with it and made Nick drool. A large table sat at the center of the room. It was covered in foods of all sorts, all steaming hot and freshly made. A large cooked chicken sat in the very center.

Nick took his seat and watched in awkward silence as Other Francis and the woman from before sat down on either side of him. Other Francis plucked a little bit of everything out of each dish and dropped it on a plate in front of him. Nick just stared at everything that was on the table; chicken, peas, mashed potatoes, rolls, corn on the cob, fruit, mixed vegetables. He wasn't sure where to start, or if he should start.

"Go on dear," Other Mother encouraged, "No need to be shy."

Taking her advice, Nick pulled a leg off of the chicken and put it on his plate. He reached for the vegetables and potatoes and added that too. He took a bite of the chicken and his eyes lit up.

"Do you like it?" Other Mother asked.

"Hell yeah, this is the greatest food I've had in a long time," He took a few more bites and waited for one of them to scold him for cussing. When no one said anything he looked up.

"You're not going to yell at me to watch my mouth?" Nick asked around a mouthful of chicken.

"No, why would we? It's not as if you've said anything wrong," Other Francis said. Nick smirked and took another bite.

"Are you thirsty?" Other Mother asked. He looked up from his plate again and at his empty glass. He nodded his reply.

"What would you like?"

Nick swallowed his food and thought about it for a second, "Orange soda, if you don't mind."

"Certainly," She said. Other Mother snapped her fingers and a chandelier descended from the ceiling. It stopped in front of his plate. Nick examined it before he realized that the chandelier's lights were actually drink dispensers. He picked up his glass and pulled a lever on one of the lights. A bright orange liquid poured into the glass and fizzed over the rim. He downed the glass in seconds as the chandelier returned to its original spot on the ceiling.

The table cleared and Other Mother presented a cake frosted with different shades of blue. She placed it down in front of Nick and the words "Welcome Home," began to appear on the cake.

"Home." Nick stated. Other Mother hugged him tightly.

"We've been waiting for you Nick."

"For me?" He said as he gently pushed Other Mother away.

"Of course. It wouldn't be the same without you here kiddo," Other Francis said, ruffling Nick's hair.

"Uh…Yeah, sure, okay… I didn't know I had an Other Mother, or that there was an Other Francis. God forbid, one was bad enough."

"Everyone has an Other Mother, Nick," Other Mother said warmly, "I thought that, once you're done eating, we could play a game."

"A game? Like what? Hide-and-seek or something?"

"Perfect, hide-and-seek in the rain!"

"What rain?"

Lightening flashed outside and rain started pelting the window. Nick stared out the window in shock; it never rained that hard twice in one day.

"Uh, what about the mud? Won't it get everywhere when we come back inside?"

"Mud? Who cares about a little mud, we love mud here. It's good for facials, baths," Other Mother took hold of Nick's rash covered hand, "And it's great for Poison Oak."

"How did you…" He trailed off.

Nick was beginning to feel awkward. The woman claiming to be his 'Other Mother,' was being kindly creepy, and he didn't like that she was calling him by his nickname. Only Nicole ever called him 'Nicki.'

"Uh, I think I should be getting back to my other home now." Nick said standing from the table.

"But this is your Other Home."

"No, I mean my real other home, the one with Francis and that annoying hick. Besides, I really think I should be getting back to bed now." Nick faked a yawn, trying to sell his sleepy act.

"Of course, it's all made up," Other Francis agreed.

"But," Nick was cut off when Other Francis lightly pushed him toward the stairs.

"Off to bed sleepyhead," He rhymed. Francis hated rhymes, what changed this one's mind?

Nick's Other Parents pushed him up the stairs to his room. When they entered it was like a whole other room. His bed was now a large black one with card suit pillows, Nicole's white bear once again sitting at the head of it. Nick looked back at his Other Parents with a questioning look; they just waved him toward it. He complied with a small sigh and pulled the covers back. His old sheets were still the same and he relished in the fact as he climbed under the black comforter. He pushed away two of the pillows and rested his head on the white bear. Other Mother approached him and kneeled beside him. She took ahold of his hand and rubbed something over his rash.

"The mud…right," He muttered.

Other Mother kissed his forehead and stood up again.

"Good night Nicki. I love you. We'll see you again soon."

Nick watched as the Other Parents faded to black as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3! Woot!**

Nick's eyes opened slowly as he sat up in bed. The sun shone through his window in a dim early morning light. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and stood up. He immediately turned back toward his bed, expecting to see the fancy bed from last night. His heart sank a little seeing that it was only his normal, underdressed bed.

Nick walked to his box of clothes and kicked it open, pulling out a white shirt and a pair of jeans. He reached down and scratched his wrist without thinking and did a double take to see that his rash was no longer there.

"My Poison Oak…It's gone," He said to himself. He then got an idea. If the mud from last night cured his rash then the brick wall must be gone too.

Running down the stairs two at a time, Nick rushed to the small door and pulled it open. His jaw hung slightly in disbelief at what he saw. The brick wall was still in one piece, there was no corridor that led to another world, no mouse, no Other Mother, no nothing. He slammed the door closed again.

"What was I thinking? That was probably just some stupid dream," He said to himself, "There's no such thing as an 'Other Mother' or and Other World for that matter. Grow up Nick; she's never coming back…"

A whistling noise came from the kitchen; Nick assumed it was Francis trying to cook again. He walked into the kitchen and saw a kettle on the stove, the steam from it fogged the window by the stove a bit. Francis pulled the kettle off the stove and poured its contents into an 'I hate coffee,' mug.

"Catch," Francis said. He tossed a granola bar to Nick; he caught it with one hand

"Sorry, I can't cook breakfast today Nick. I'll have to go grocery shopping when I finish the next installment."

Francis worked for a magazine dedicated to surviving a zombie apocalypse. His job was to write installments on survival guides. His columns were usually just short worst case scenarios that he had solutions for.

"Yeah, whatever…" Nick muttered, tearing off the wrapper on the bar. Francis retreated back to his study, leaving Nick alone in the kitchen.

"Why don't you go visit those two actresses downstairs?" Francis called.

"You mean Zoey and Rochelle? You're kidding right? Those two have more than a few screws loose if you haven't noticed."

"Then they should keep you entertained for a while today so you're not bored to death."

Nick sighed irritably and tossed his half eaten granola bar in the trash. He found his blue rain boots and slid them on. He stomped to the door and threw it open.

"Uh, hello," A small voice said. Nick turned to the door to unexpectedly see the boy from yesterday standing by it.

"What the hell do you want…Ellis, was it?" Nick growled.

"I uh, I was wonderin' if you were free today. I thought we could do somethin', maybe just hang out a bit."

"Sorry kid, I'm on my way to the basement to see Zoey and Rochelle." Nick turned away from the hick and started down the dilapidated stairs.

"What a coincidence!" Ellis said running to Nick's side, "I have to drop somethin' off for 'em" He held up a small bundle of newspaper. Nick stared at him with cold emerald eyes making Ellis flinch a bit.

"Um, they're on the bottom floor, I could take ya if ya want," Ellis offered.

"I know how to get to the basement, but if you need to visit those two then be my guest." Nick was about to walk to the basement stairs when he kicked something. He looked down to see a pile of mail sitting at his feet. He picked up the letters and looked through them.

"Coach…Coach…Coach…Coach from Jimmy Jr. Who the hell is Coach?" He said.

"I think he's the guy who lives upstairs." Ellis commented.

Nick looked up from the insane pile of mail to the attic staircase.

"May as well take care of this now," Nick changed his direction and walked up the stairs. The attic apartment had a balcony that looked over the dead garden in the back of the house. Nick knocked on the door and stood back. He knocked again when there was no answer.

"Hey!" He called, "I have your mail here, and it got mixed in with mine!" He looked in the window to see if someone was there.

Nick didn't want to wait anymore and opened the door.

"Wait! I don't think that's a good idea Nick," Ellis said. He stopped Nick with a hand on his shoulder.

"Relax Overalls, if he's home then we'll hear it from him. Y'all need ta calm down, ya'hear," Nick mocked.

"Now what is that supposed to mean!" Ellis yelled, feeling angry about his accent being made fun of by a total stranger.

"Come on, what's the worst this guy can do?"

"Not that! What was with that stupid accen-" A hand on Ellis' shoulder cut him off mid-sentence.

The two turned around and saw a dark skinned man standing over them. He was well over six feet tall. The man slammed the door shut and towered over the boys with his arms crossed. He was a rather portly man but had legs like long toothpicks.

"What are you doing up here?" He asked darkly.

"Uh, he had some mail he needed to return!" Ellis said, running behind Nick and pushing him forward. Nick glared back at Ellis telling him that he would pay later.

"Yeah, here's your mail Mister…Coach?" Nick offered.

"Just Coach is fine," Coach smiled. His tone got much lighter, "But don't go in there, I'm working on a secret jumping mouse circus, it's going to be big when it's done. So no peeking!"

"A mouse circus!?" Ellis cheered. Coach shushed him immediately, "Sorry…"

Nick's eye twitched a bit. He wasn't sure whether he was more shocked that Coach was even trying such a stupid idea or that Ellis actually believed the idea could work.

"Yeah…" He muttered, "I'll be going now. You coming, El?" He didn't wait for an answer before he turned around and headed back downstairs.

"Nice meetin' ya Coach!" Ellis called over his shoulder. He ran after Nick.

"Nick, wait up!" Ellis shouted. Nick stopped to look behind him as Ellis ran into him, sending the two toppling onto the porch.

"God dammit, Ellis!" Nick complained flipping Ellis off of his back. Ellis sat up and blushed a bit, smiling awkwardly.

"Sorry Nick," He said. He completely flushed when he realized he was all but sitting on top of Nick. His legs were slung over Nick's and they were practically sitting shoulder to shoulder. Nick noticed it too and just stared at their legs for a while before kicking Ellis off and standing up. He walked to the stairs leading to the basement before Ellis could pick himself up.

Ellis rose to his knees and sat there flushed. _Okay Ellis, how did this happen? _Ellis thought to himself,_ a new kid moved into yer grampa's apartment complex and ya decided to visit. Ya had no idea he'd be so emotionless. You're just overreacting, just your stupid fifteen year old testosterone acting up again. _He forced the blood from his face and stood up. He ran to the basement stairs and saw Nick knocking on the door. A woman opened the door. Her skin was caramel colored and wrinkled. She must've been about 50 years old, if not older. She was dressed in a revealing robe that trailed on the floor behind her and showed off her legs and the top of her cleavage. For an older woman, she was certainly attractive.

"Well hello there! You must be the new boy upstairs," She said as she put on a pair of horn rimmed glasses. Her eyes were dark and had a young appeal to them.

"Yeah, I thought I'd come down to meet you," Nick smiled, "And I'm glad I did. Hey there, I'm Nick." He took the woman's hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.

"Well, aren't you a young gentleman?" She said, "Would you like to come inside?"

Nick nodded with a smile and walked inside.

"You too," The woman said over his shoulder. Ellis was standing behind Nick with a nervous smile. The two boys entered the basement apartment with the woman, she seemed to strut and sway as she walked.

"Who is it Ro?" Another woman called from another room.

"The new guy upstairs and the landlord's grandkid," The dark skinned woman replied, "You should come out and meet them Zoey, and Nick is quite the charmer."

A woman with a light brown and greying ponytail entered the room and smiled brightly at them. She looked quite old as well, being the shorter of the two and seemingly more conservative with her own robe, identical to the other woman's. Her skin was also soft and wrinkled, with some skin hanging in a few places from age. Her eyes were glassy and she walked with a cane in one hand.

"Hello there, I'm Zoey. What's your name?" She greeted.

"I'm Nick, this is Ellis. I just thought I should come down and meet my new neighbors."

"And Grampa Bill wanted me to drop this off for him," Ellis added. He held up the bundle of newspaper he'd been carrying. The dark skinned woman took it from him with a thank you and set it on the coffee table in the living room.

"What is it Rochelle?" Zoey asked. She stood on the other side of the table and looked at the paper. Rochelle carefully peeled back the paper to reveal a doll.

"Looks like he fixed it, Zo," She said picking up the doll. The doll was dressed with a hoodie and green jeans that had been taped down.

"This doll was something my brother gave me for my birthday when we were young. I asked Bill to fix it up for me because the arm had been ripped when we moved here. He used to be a cobbler in his youth, y'know."

"Okay, now even I didn't know that," Ellis said, "He always told me he was a retired war veteran."

"He is, his mother was a tailor and he became a cobbler before he joined the army. Our parents go way back."

"No way!"

"Uh huh. You know there's a very good story behind this doll. My older brother gave me this doll when we were kids. It's based off of an enemy from a game we used to play together. The character is called a Hunter. After he broke one of my favorite dolls he made this one to make up for it. Mind you, it was in rags when he first gave it to me because he had no talent for sewing, but it's the thought that counts. Over the years I've had some work done on it, but it's still the same old rag doll. My brother is a movie director now, Zoey and I worked for him in our youth. He's a very nice man, but we got our jobs from talent not connections! He was a lot like Bill's younger brother actually."

"Grampa had a brother?" Ellis asked, he was sitting on the edge of his seat now.

"You didn't know?"

"No. I never knew he had a brother. I always thought he was an only child."

"Well…if he hasn't told you about him I'm not sure if I should or not…But what harm could it cause. Bill had a younger brother named Louis. Louis was an adopted brother; his parents gave him away before he could walk straight. He and Bill were like two clichéd big and little brothers. Louis was always a weak little boy; Bill protected him from anything and everything at all costs. Then one day Louis just disappeared. Bill said he might have gone crazy, talking about a world where his parents took care of him and loved him, only they had buttons for eyes."

Nick flinched and snapped his head in Rochelle's direction, "What?" He said, trying to recover from the shock.

"Louis would always talk about this place where his mother and father had taken him back and acted as if they never left. Every night was like a new adventure and he ate food that people can only dream of ever seeing. Then one day he vanished. Bill looked all over Oregon searching for him.

"This world, was it real?" Nick asked.

"Nobody knows. It all depends on what you think on the matter. There's no definite answer."

Nick stayed silent. He was curious about the dream he'd had now. He wondered if it was an actual dream now or not.

"It was nice meeting you," Nick stood up and walked to the door.

"Nice meeting you too dear," Rochelle said. The door slammed shut before she could finish.

"Sorry," Ellis said before he followed suit.

Nick was running up the stairs two at a time and ran around the apartment complex. He ran through the dead garden and to the hillside trail. Ellis was hot on his trail. He didn't know why he kept following Nick, he assumed it was probably because he never had anything to do anymore, but part of him said it was something else; something that Nick would kill him for if it was ever let out.

When Ellis caught up to him Nick was sitting on the stump where they had met yesterday. He seemed distressed about something.

"Somethin' wrong Nick?"

"Go away, Ellis," He said flatly. Ellis just sat with his back facing Nick on the other side of the stump.

"I know…" Ellis started, "I know we just met but…if there's something bugging you, you can always tell me."

Nick opened his mouth to say something but didn't speak.

"Ellis…" Nick hesitated, "I think I've been having the same dreams Louis was."

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean just that. I've only had one of those dreams but it was everything I've ever wanted. My mother was alive, my step-dad was…Well, my step-dad only cooler, the food was amazing and I could've had anything I could ever dream of. Everything had buttons for eyes though. It was like they were some kind of creepy rag dolls, but not."

Now it was Ellis' turn to stay silent. "I…" He didn't want to admit it, "I've had those dreams too…The Other World. The world where everything is better, but then you wake up."

Nick straightened and turned his head slightly. He only saw Ellis's blue trucker cap and his slightly hunched shoulders. He looked as if he were crying.

"You okay El?" Nick offered. He placed a hand on his shoulder and Ellis jumped.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine, nothing to worry 'bout."

"The same goes for you. Tell me if something's bugging you."

"Thanks but…it's really nothing."

"…I'm…I'm sorry I've been acting like such a jerk, I guess I've just been a little upset having to leave Nicole and all."

"Nicole?" Ellis' heart sank a bit, "Is she your girlfriend or…or something?"

"No, she's more like an annoying sister," Ellis sighed quietly in relief at hearing that.

"What's she like?" Ellis asked.

Nick paused a moment in thought.

"To put it bluntly, she's very bold."

"Bold how?"

Nick laughed to himself a bit.

"Let's just say… she's the kind of person that jumps on your back to say hello, even if she doesn't know you."

Ellis scrunched his face in confusion and turned around to face Nick.

"You somehow remind me of her."

Ellis grinned mischievously.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Nick asked, suddenly feeling scared.

"I remind you of her, don't I? How 'bout a walk down memory lane then?" Ellis didn't give Nick the time to react before he tackled him to the ground. Ellis was now sitting on Nick's back, his arms pinned to the dirt ground.

"What the hell Ellis!?"

Ellis just laughed and stared at the side of Nick's face.

"Ellis, I swear, if you don't get off of me now then I will kill you!" Nick yelled. Ellis faltered a bit and his grip on Nick's hands weakened. Nick took the opportunity to knock Ellis off his back and onto the ground.

"Just kidding," He smiled. Nick pinned Ellis on his back and stared at the expression of shock on the boy's face. He sat himself on the boy's mid-section and grinned at him.

"Payback," Nick said before he stood from Ellis. He held his hand out to Ellis and helped him up.

Nick started walking back down the trail and Ellis ran to catch up. They walked beside each other down the hillside trail when Nick stopped.

"Hey," He muttered. Ellis stopped a few steps ahead and looked back.

"Yeah?"

"You said that you've had the dreams before too right? How many have you had?"

"Uh…I'm not sure, I never kept track. Not many though."

"I see. What…what were your dreams about?"

Ellis stayed quiet and dropped his head a bit, "My dreams were of my parents. I never knew my parents because they couldn't afford to keep me. Grampa Bill isn't even my real grandfather. My dreams were of my mom and dad, them apologizing like mad and wanting to take me back home. I went with them but something didn't feel right and I said no to every gift from my mom… Then after a while I just stopped having them…"

"I'm sorry. Did you enter the dreams yourself or were they just random occurrences?"

"What do you mean?" Ellis asked. Nick paused for a moment.

"Never mind, I'm gonna go back home now." Nick got up and started walking away.

"Hey Nick, can I come with you?" Ellis asked. Nick thought about it for a second.

"Alright, I guess." He answered. Ellis smiled and walked along with Nick back to his apartment.

**Okay, I've actually had this chapter in my document's section since forever. I never uploaded it because I wasn't sure if this story was good or not, thanks to our fan total of 1 for loving this crossover enough to ask for more XD**

**Author: PlatoBear7-now known as LovelyLadyPain**

**Co-Author, editor, original idea: SpaceCowGirl559**

**Love you guys~**


	4. Chapter 4

Nick and Ellis headed back toward Nick's apartment and dropped their coats by the door. Nick rummaged around in the fridge and shoved a frozen pizza into the oven for dinner.

"Drop your shoes by the door, Francis will flip if the floor's wet." Nick said, not looking toward Ellis.

Ellis nodded and knelt to untie his boots, dropping the heavy articles beside the kitchen door.

The two boys hung around the house eating pizza and playing board games, laughing at how bad Ellis was at them. After about four games of LIFE, all of which Nick won by a landslide, and a round of Poker, Ellis yawned and sprawled out on the floor.

"Tired, overalls?" Nick laughed, leaning back on his arms.

"Nah, just wanted to rest a bit," Ellis replied, closing his eyes and folding his hands under his head.

Nick laid down beside him on his stomach and used his arms as a pillow. He didn't expect to fall asleep as quickly as he did, but the soft tapping of rain against the windows slowly lulled him to sleep.

A loud shock of thunder shook the house, Ellis waking up with a jolt and smacking Nick in the face. Nick yelped and jumped as he was struck and sat up, holding his head and glaring at Ellis.

"What the hell, Ellis?" He said angrily, both from being so rudely woken up and still half asleep.

Thunder boomed again, causing Nick's ears to ring and Ellis to curl in on himself, shaking like crazy. Nick noticed how his friend was reacting to the sudden storm and frowned, pushing his hand under Ellis's hat and rubbing his fingertips into his scalp.

"Suck it up, Ellis. It's only thunder." He sighed.

"S-sorry man…I just-…storms don't hold good memories for me." Ellis stuttered.

A small squeak echoed softly across the hall, causing both teens to look up and down the hall.

"…what was that?" Ellis said, more than asked, looking over at Nick.

Neither said a word as they got up and crept down the hall, toward the living room. Nick held his hand up for Ellis to stay behind the entrance as he peered through…nothing. Nothing unusual at least, same couch, same depressing painting above the fireplace, same snow globes that his mother collec—wait a second, what was that? Something moved behind her San Francisco snow globe.

There it was again.

Nick stood and nonchalantly walked into the room, picking up the cheap piece of water and plastic, and tilting his head at what he saw. A small mouse with large feet and a long tail stood behind where the trinket previously sat.

"Well. We have adorable mice." Nick commented, "Comere you little…" He put the snow globe aside, his voice trailing off as he reached for the mouse, Ellis peeking out of the doorway and watching Nick. The mouse scurried aside quickly, making Nick jump back a bit, and crawled hurriedly down the side of the fireplace. The small creature skittered toward the small door and diving under it; its tiny butt wriggled as it got stuck for a moment under the small gap beneath the door where the frame had been chewed away.

Ellis watched the mouse run, slowly walking over and kneeling in front of the door. He looked up at Nick, who was now crouching beside him, and swallowed a bit. Nick nodded and reached for the door, pushing his fingertips between the door and its frame and pulling at it. It stopped. He huffed and pulled again. The door didn't budge.

"Locked." Nick sat back on his heels and frowned at the wallpaper covered door.

"Well, don't you have a key or somethin'?" Ellis asked, he sounded a bit frantic.

"Um…I think we might, let me go check." Nick pushed himself to his feet and jogged toward the kitchen, pulling open a drawer. The drawer snapped open to its fullest, about 50 keys inside of it jingling and bouncing lightly. He dug through the drawer, looking for something. What, he didn't know, but he continued to move keys around.

His finger hit something, another key no doubt, but it was colder than the rest…Nick gently grabbed it and held it between his fingertips. The key was long and black with a large button adorning the top of it, a string woven securely around and inside the button on the key. Something inside him…he felt like he was drawn to it.

"Nick!" The sound of Ellis's voice snapped Nick out of his trance, "What's takin' so long?"

"Calm your tits, I'm coming!" Nick shook his head and held the key in his fist, the string tied around it wrapping around his fingers comfortably.

Nick knelt by Ellis again and positioned the key at the key hole, only to find out that it was covered and the key wouldn't be going through any time soon. Ellis looked around a bit before reaching into his pocket, then the other, then his boot…then his other boo—there it was. He pulled his pocket knife from a pocket on the inside of his boot before opening it and pushing it into the wall paper over the hole. He stuck his tongue out as he turned the knife around in the keyhole, trying to get the plastered on paper put of the way. Once he retracted the knife, Nick tried again, shoving the key in and turning it jerkily. A soft, but audible click came from the door and Nick pulled the key from the lock.

A cold gust of air hit them both as they door slowly opened. A long dimly lit hallway sat before them, taking the place of old crumbling bricks that sat beyond the small door only hours before.

"So…you go first." Ellis was the first to break the silence.

"What!? Why me? You go first." Nick moved back a bit and motioned for Ellis to go inside.

"No way man, I'm getting a weird feeling about that thing…"

"Fine," Nick groaned and shoved the door open, crawling inside the hallway, "Big baby."

Ellis watched Nick delve deeper into the odd hallway and bit his lip…

"Dangit, wait up Nick!" Ellis dove in behind him and skittered along behind him, catching up rather quickly. The younger boy looked around at the surrounding hallway and frowned; he had a bad feeling about this…

-.-.-.-.-.-

A sharp 'ow!' broke the silent shuffling of the two boys as Nick stopped immediately and moved back a bit, rubbing his head, having just run into something.

Nick reached a hand out and pressed it against the surface in front of him, it gave away just a bit but didn't move forward. He frowned and felt about the object, feeling every sharp dip and curve in the surface in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Ellis whispered.

"I hit something," Nick replied, banging his hand against the surface in front of him, "I think it's a door…" Nick's fingers brushed against something cold as he said the words. A doorknob.

The brunette gripped the cold door handle and turned it, pushing the door open slowly and peering through the crack between the door and its frame.

Bugs.

Bug furniture, tables, carpeting and decorations; bug everything. The room before him ran a chill down Nick's spine.

"Well come on, don't just sit there." Ellis pushed, "I wanna see too."

Nick rolled his eyes and crawled out of the doorway, standing up and stretching. That hallway was barely big enough for them to fit through; it felt good to be out of it.

Ellis stood shakily and looked around the room, turning to look at Nick and raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think we're supposed to be in here, Nick," The redhead said quietly.

"You think? This place is…weird…" Nick muttered in return as he tapped on the cockroach wardrobe that sat flush with the wall.

Ellis peered through the doorway that leads from the sitting room to the main hallway. It was just a dusty old apartment. He flinched when the ceiling creaked above them and fled back into the sitting room. Nick looked up then to Ellis.

"What was that?" He asked softly.

Ellis only shook his head feverishly and kept his gaze on the ceiling.

Nick rolled his eyes and grabbed Ellis's wrist, "Come on." He dragged the smaller teen out of the room and down the hall, said boy dragging his heels in a weak attempt to resist Nick's strong grasp.

The apartment was exactly how Nick remembered it, brightly painted walls, blue everywhere, toys of every kind strewn about and built into the walls and décor. He pulled his reluctant friend up the stairs and into another, narrower hallway. This was where his and Francis' rooms were…

Nick let go of Ellis's hand and walked toward his room, pushing the door open and staring wide eyed at the scene before him. His room—his OTHER room—was…it was gorgeous in every sense of the word.

The walls were blue and metallic, the Black card suite bed was still there from the other night, but the room was now bigger. Colorful birds flew in a line around his room, like the mobile that hung over his crib when he was an infant. The picture of Nicole that sat on his nightstand was animated, the snow she stood in actually falling as she smiled and spun about, making snow angels and throwing snowballs at the glass frame.

Ellis walked up behind him and stared blankly; the room was old and dusty and covered with cobwebs. Nick was about to take a step inside before Ellis grabbed him and pulled him back into the hallway. The room was missing its floor and Nick almost walked into the hole below and broke his ankles. The brunette looked at Ellis angrily and rolled his eyes, walking back into the hallway.

"So what now?" He asked.

Ellis fidgeted uncomfortably, he felt like he was being watched and felt very unwanted here. A small squeak came from the closet beside Nick's room; the tiny mouse with the long tail was bouncing in the crack between the wooden door and its frame. Nick didn't seem to notice.

Ellis approached the small creature and watched it scurry away into the closet. Ellis peered through the crack in the door, the closet was dark. The auburnette slowly pulled the door open and stepped behind it, groping blindly at the air in front of him, looking for a pull-string to an overhead light. His hand swatted a thick string and he grabbed at it again, pulling it down sharply. Harsh light from a bare light bulb blinded him temporarily.

Ellis blinked hard and rubbed his thumb and forefinger into his eyelids. He opened his eyes and stared at the closet. His breath hitched and he took a step back at seeing a mirror in front of him. His reflection didn't move, only stared blankly with cold black button eyes. Ellis tilted his head, watching the reflection tilt its head. The copy moved with Ellis and reached a hand out, touching the mirror gently, Ellis mimicked the movement, hypnotized by the reflection's eyes.

The reflection Ellis grinned evilly and twined his fingers with Ellis's grabbing his hand roughly. Ellis snapped out of his trance and yanked his hand back, pulling the reflection out of the mirror. The button eyed copy kept smiling and spun Ellis around, shoving him roughly into the mirror. Ellis yelped as he crashed through it, landing on a hard cold concrete floor.

The auburn haired boy pushed himself to his knees and looked around at the room around him. The room he'd just been roughly shoved into was dark and cold, one dirty bed shoved into the corner of the small space. The walls were cracked and the floor was soiled by several substances. Ellis turned and looked up at the wall behind him. Several feet off the ground was the mirror, the button eyed Ellis standing there with an evil smirk. It waved silently at him and slowly closed the closet door.

Ellis ran to the wall and clawed at it, trying to get some form of grip on it so he could drag himself up. He felt his stomach bottom out when the door closed, leaving him in pure darkness. The boy's hands stung with fresh scrapes as he pulled away from the wall and fell to his knees. He called out for Nick, screaming for help, for anything to come and open the door again.

Realizing that nobody would help him and that he was trapped now, Ellis buried his face in his hands and cried softly, pulling his knees up and holding himself tightly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ellis!" Nick was downstairs trying to find Ellis, calling for him to come out and stop hiding, "Dammit overalls, get the hell out here!"

Nick groaned and pushed his hand through his hair before falling against the wall and sinking to the floor. He pulled his knees to his chest and held his face, sitting there to think for a bit. A shadow cast over him from someone standing in front of him. Nick lifted his head and stared at the boy before him. Ellis was leaning over him a bit and smiling happily, his eyes replaced by pitch black buttons.

"…Ellis?" Nick raised an eyebrow and stood up, looking over his auburn haired friend. Well, it LOOKED like Ellis, save the eyes…

The woman from the other night stepped out from the kitchen and smiled, putting an arm around the boy, pinching his cheeks.

"Other-Ellis, silly," She laughed, "This one comes with a few improvements."

"Improvements?" Nick looked between the Other-Mother and Other-Ellis curiously.

"Well, this one doesn't talk, you don't mind do you?"

"A mute Ellis? Hah, now that's an improvement." Nick grinned and felt a twinge of guilt in his chest, he was lying about the mute being an improvement, but the Other-Mother had gone to the trouble of making Other-Ellis for him, so it was only polite…right?

The Other-Mother smiled and pushed Other-Ellis forward, "You two go play, I'll call you when dinner's ready."

Nick shrugged after the Other-Mother left and pushed Other-Ellis's shoulder a bit. The lookalike only faltered slightly before smiling at Nick again. Nick couldn't help but wonder where the real Ellis had gone, he'd come into the world with him hadn't he? He was sure he did…he might have dreamed it; all of this was just another dream, surely. Other-Ellis grabbed Nick's hand—snapping him out of his thoughts—and pulled him toward the front door, tugging the brunette outside and onto the front porch.

"There's nothing to do here, overalls," Nick protested. Other-Ellis ignored his banter and just pulled him farther outside. The copy pointed to the basement floor where Zoey and Rochelle lived. Nick raised an eyebrow and let himself be dragged to the stairs. There was a large sign covered with flashing lights that advertised "The Greatest Show on Earth!" and "The Magnificent, Young, Beautiful, Talented Duo performing tonight!"

Nick and Other-Ellis traveled down the stairs to the door of the aspiring actress's apartment. The door was now a large velvet curtain, colored a deep red. Nick pushed the curtain aside and walked into the apartment. The basement was huge now, about the size of a small opera house; rows of seats and a large stage sat inside the room. Nick gave the new stage a puzzled look, every seat in the audience was taken by small rag dolls, all smiling and quietly chattering away about the show.

A small rag doll dressed as a theatre usher shone a flashlight up at the two teenagers. Nick blinked at the sudden light and put a hand over his eyes. The doll motioned for them to follow and lead them up to the front of the theatre. There were two seats in the very front row that had been left open. The doll sat Nick and Other-Ellis down and turned its flashlight off, disappearing behind the stage. A high, mature voice fluttered out into the audience as the lights in the theatre dimmed and all the small voices disappeared.

The curtain on the stage rose and a ruined city setting flew down from the roof, props moving into place as a post disaster ridden city was created. The lights turned dark shades of greens and brown to make the city look dirty. The voice continued to echo through the theatre, the melody becoming very melancholy. A trapdoor in the stage opened up and a spotlight hit it as a figure slowly rose out of it. Zoey stood on stage now, singing a sad song.

"This place was once my home, once my childhood, once my Rome…now it is gone…" She walked to front left stage and looked away from the ruined city.

"My home demolished and ruined by plague, now I only have myself here." She crouched and reached behind one of the props, pulling a shot gun up and holding it close. "They come."

The sharp screams of a crowd tore through the air, sending a chill down Nick's spine. Zoey turned and fired off the stage.

"Back! Get back you foul monsters!" She cried, shooting off more rounds as lights and sounds played to make her weapon look real. The stage shook a bit and the setting suddenly changed to a happier field, a green meadow covered with flowers and prop animals took the place of the ruined city, one of the props crashing into Zoey and sending her flying offstage. Other-Ellis winced at that and moved, as if he were giggling silently. Rochelle skipped onto the stage in a flowing white gown, hopping lightly around the stage and spinning happily. Nick couldn't help but smile at not knowing what had just happened.

Rochelle started singing in some foreign language Nick couldn't identify, but from the look of her face and actions as she sang it must've been a happy song.

Zoey stomped angrily back onto the stage and snapped her fingers, the meadow rising and the city coming back into place.

"Foul witch!" She shouted. Rochelle huffed and crossed her arms at Zoey. Said woman cleared her throat and took a breath to sing again when Rochelle clapped and a large cane yanked Zoey off the stage, the meadow from before coming back into place. Rochelle sang happily again and jumped when Zoey shot off a round beside her from the crowd. The two actresses glared at each other as Zoey pulled herself back on stage. A hippie versus a trigger happy survivor, this is going to be good.

The two women seemed to shout angrily at each other, the settings changing back and forth so quickly that the props started to get mixed up. A loud snap was heard and they both looked up as a set fell on top of them. Nick winced audibly and shifted uncomfortably. The set lifted and two lumps under it seemed to fight with each other, unintelligible bickering could be heard coming from the fallen set. A handful of dolls ran onstage and grabbed at the set, tugging at it. A loud rip was heard as the painted set was torn in half, two colorful figures jumping out of the tear and onto the stage.

Nick's eyes widened at the sight, Zoey and Rochelle seemingly changed into overly complex costumes from under the fallen set. Zoey was now dressed in a skin tight acrobatics uniform that looked more like a corset over spandex shorts. Rochelle was in the same uniform, hers green instead of pink.

A trapeze descended on the stage and Zoey grabbed ahold of it, Rochelle holding her ankles as the two women were lifted from the stage. Rochelle was swung forward and let go of Zoey, flipping through the air and grabbing ahold of another trapeze. The two women smiled as they flipped and swung through the air over the audience, reciting poetry of what Nick assumed was a Shakespeare sonnet. He was turning in his seat to keep his eye on the two suddenly acrobats as they moved over the audience, a wide grin spreading across his face as Zoey passed over him and winked. He raised his hand to wave at her but she snatched his hand and yanked him up out of his seat.

Nick let out a long yell as he was swung from his seat and around the room. Zoey giggled and threw him up in the air, the brunette flailing his limbs about as he screamed at the sudden action. Rochelle caught him by his wrists and swung him back. Nick breathed shakily, his heart pounding in his chest. He was thrown again over to Zoey and let out a loud fit of laughter, this was kind of fun. A tower of dolls had gathered on the stage and Rochelle was now beside Zoey on the same trapeze, each actress holding one of Nick's hands as they swung back toward the stage. The women dropped off the trapeze and landed on the tower of dolls, each of the ragged toys holding them up in a large star shape. They lifted Nick and he stood shakily at the top of the star.

"Quath the Raven, nevermore." He shouted through his wide grin. Cheers and applause erupted from the audience of dolls, Other-Ellis standing and clapping above his head with a big smile. Nick's heart beat fast from the rush of adrenaline as he stayed at the top of the doll tower and looked out at the crowd. His eye caught something; one of the dolls was standing in the back of the center aisle. The doll was wearing a dark colored sweat shirt, the hood pulled down over its eyes. It was frowning and had its sleeves and pant legs taped down in some places. It looked different from all the others, the others were dressed up in fancy clothes and had hair made out of several bits of yarn.

Nick raised an eyebrow as the doll turned and rushed out of the apartment…on all fours. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the doll looked familiar somehow.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"That was amazing!" Nick all but cheered as he and Other-Ellis left the women's apartment. Other-Ellis just smiled at him and nodded, walking beside him up the stairs. Nick smiled as he looked at the top of the stairs and back to Other-Ellis, doing a double take at seeing the doll again. He watched it run away from the staircase and sped up, taking the stairs two at a time. He saw it out of the corner of his eye, rushing toward the back of the house. Nick slid a bit as he changed his course, running after the doll as fast as his legs would carry him. Other-Ellis tried to keep up with him but quickly stopped when he reached the end of the house. The Other-Mother would be mad at him if he strayed from the house…very very mad…

Nick kept after the toy and turned behind the house, catching it sliding under one of the plant pots. Nick shoved the pot aside and flinched as he heard the orange pottery shatter on the wooden porch. The doll scurried from its spot on the ground as Nick slammed his hand down to catch it, missing by less than an inch.

The doll squeezed through a crack in the door and disappeared. Nick frowned and followed it, pulling the door open and walking inside. He was back in his house now. He closed the door quietly and looked around for the doll again, spotting it looking at him from the stairs. The toy was leading him somewhere. He rushed over to it and watched it jump up each wooden step faster than he could walk; damn this thing was fast!

Nick followed it to the hall closet and stared as the doll went limp in front of it. The brunette stood over the doll and looked down at it, then to the door. He waited a few moments, wondering what was so important about this door. He lifted his hand cautiously and reached for the doorknob.

"Nick?" A voice asked softly. Nick flinched and dropped his hand, snapping his head to look at the source of the voice. The Other-Mother was standing a few feet away from him.

"Honey, Ellis told me you just ran off, is something wrong?" She furrowed her eyebrows in concern and frowned. Nick stuttered for a few seconds, trying to think of what to say before finally speaking up.

"I-I-the doll," He choked out.

"What doll?"

Nick looked down at the floor and stared at it confused.

"Nick, I think you're eyes are playing tricks on you," She smiled warmly and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, coaxing him over to her side, "Come on, dinner's ready."

The Other-Mother held Nick close and pulled him toward the stairs. Nick looked back to the door; what was behind the door? Why had that doll deemed it so important for him to follow it to see and what had happened to Ellis? He felt so confused right now, but the enormous spread the Other-Mother had made for dinner made him forget all about it.

**BLUH THIS TOOK FOREVER TO WRITE AND IT'S FINALLY DONE**

***RAISES ARMS IN A VICTORY SCREECH***

**I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS, I KNOW IT KIND OF SUCKS, I'VE BEEN WRITING IT FOR ABOUT A MONTH DUE TO MIDTERMS AND SHIT AND EVERY TIME I STOPPED I LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT AND FORGOT WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THIS CHAPTER AND I'VE BEEN WRITING THIS DURING SCHOOL AND DOING ENGLISH PROJECTS WITH 7 OTHER PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME DO ALL THE WORK AND UGH BUT IT WAS FUN AND SHELBY HELPS AS MUCH AS SHE CAN AND I'M GONNA SHUT UP NOW!**

***ROLLS OUT OF THE ROOM CHANTING DOOOWEEEOOOOOO***

**~LovelyLadyPain**

Sorry the chapter took so long for us to finish, like what Lady said; we were too caught up in midterms and projects, and laziness. :P I hope you readers enjoyed the chapter as much as I do, it's really interesting. We'll try to get the next chapter up sooner, promise.  
~SpaceCowgirl559

**Left 4 Coraline is written by: LovelyLadyPain **

**Editor, original idea, the she-man you should all love right now: SpaceCowGirl559**

**Left 4 Dead™ © Valve™**

**Coraline © Neil Gaiman **


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